Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Falling Grape Leaves

I am very pleased to announce the completion of a semi-impressive WIP. Yes, I have actually finished something that a. is for someone that weighs over 5 pounds, b. is not a knitted tube and c. wasn't started 8 months ago and therefore only had a little bit to go before it was considered completed. Please don't think that I am recanting my position on the cowl (hell no, I fiercely love that knitted tube), it's just that occasionally it's nice to finish a project that feels like it has some import to it. I know you all know exactly what I'm talking about.I am calling this the Falling Grape Leaves Shawl, and it might be the first dark purple thing that I have ever owned--for real! I am still not thoroughly convinced about the color, but have just decided to go with it. Last month I wore blue for the first time in about 6 years and I received extremely positive feedback for it from shocked friends and colleagues, so branching out color-wise seems to be a good idea once in a while.The SpecsPattern: Falling Leaves Shawl by Katy WightYarn: Malabrigo Worsted, Velvet Grapes, 2.25 skeinsNeedles: Size 9Dates: March 16-May 20. Can you believe I thought I was going to be finished with this in time for my trip to Montpellier? Puh-leeze..There is another first to report--my new camera is making its' debut with this post. There was quite a build up to being able to get this camera. My entire repertoire of charming adolescent behaviors were dusted off. These included begging, pleading, pouting, slamming doors, promising the moon, unfortunate petulant remarks, and the hardest of all, patience. But in the end my generous mate came through and gave it to me for our anniversary, which is today. As my mother would say "he's a good lad" and I am a lucky, lucky girl.

I am still learning the ropes and making my way through the manual. Please share any smart tips you might have for using the Canon Digital Rebel xti, and feel free to point me in the direction of more information about photography with this type of camera if you can. So. Excited!

51 comments:

So pretty- and I love the deep wine color, sounds more sophisticated than purple, doesn't it? Purple sounds like a crayola color... but really, that is a loverly finished object! I don't see a lot of worsted weight lacy shawls, this one looks so 'accomplishable'- think I just made up that word, oh well, I didn't finish my college career and am now just a recovering english major, making up words is part of my therapy.

Congrats on the camera! I love our digital rebel, it takes fabulous pics, so much nicer than my kodak easyshare toy, but that one has video, so it gets carried with me everywhere, you know, just in case my kids do something cute... but when we go somewhere cool, when I know there will we great photo ops, the rebel comes with, fer sure...

Your new shawl is fantastically gorgeous and you should be so proud of yourself for finishing such a lovely garment of "import"!

The pics with your new gifty are amazing and I hope you have tons of fun with your new toy! My hubby has a digital Rebel too and I regularly "appropriate" it and his services for my bloggy photos ;) Enjoy!

What a beautiful, beautiful shawl! I might have to steal your idea and use this pattern for some Sundara I have staring me in the eye. (If you wouldn't mind, of course.)

I use the Nikons, so I can't give you explicit instructions on how to change the settings, but I think ditching the flash and putting the camera on aperture priority mode (with the aperture set down as far as your lens will allow) is a really nice setting for general knitting pictures. The camera should automatically set the shutter speed to the highest possible, reducing blur; the low aperture will get you those close-ups with a nice small depth of field, which fiber responds really well to. Also, shoot RAW if your photo processing software can work with it. It's SO much easier to fix things like exposure and color balance if the data hasn't already been compressed.

Enjoy the camera! I know you'll have lots of fun learning what it can do.

That is gorgeous! I never thought to do a lace wrap in Malabrigo -- I can only imagine how delightfully squishy it is!

I am no help whatsoever with the camera; I'm still making do with the digital I've had since, oh, 2003 or so? It has almost none of the bells and whistles I'd like to have, but alas, the most recent camera purchase I made was for my husband for his birthday. (Hmm, now I'm thinking maybe I'll just use his!)

Wow - this shawl is breathtaking - I love it, I love the yarn, the deepness - perfection! If you get some ideas about the camera - please pass them on...I got a Canon XT Rebel last year and yowza, so much camera. But I love it.

I just picked up my very own Canon Digital Rebel XTi, so welcome to the club! I am still sort of shocked at how great my photos are turning out just by ditching my old Olympus and getting a new camera.

Your shawl is gorgeous and I love the color. Happy Anniversary and I am so glad to hear that the adolescent behavior paid off. I have been known to use the same and get excellent results!! Have fun with your new toy!

As for the camera, I love my XTi. Its a smidge intimidating at first but keep at it. The little booklets it comes with is helpful for sure. There's also a book out there called the Digital SLR Bible.(and many other digital photog and slr photog books) I have skimmed through some other books, but I hear this ones a good one. Maybe check some books out of the library.And keep snapping away!